United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)

The leadership of the USCRI is closely connected with other major players in the immigration and refugee-resettlement system. These include the taxpayer-funded Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, which has also received government funding under the Biden administration. ^{2 3} At the same time, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has been one of the committee’s top financial backers: since 2021, it has disbursed more than $170 million for healthcare benefits, childcare services, and cash handouts to migrants, including illegal and underage border crossers. ^{4 5} The organization’s funding was a target when the Trump administration attempted to scale back funding for the USCRI and other migrant resettlement organizations. ⁶

The USCRI collaborates with dozens of local immigrant advocacy organizations across the country, including a large number of African interest groups and several Islamic groups. The committee also maintains a partnership with defense contractor General Dynamics. ⁷

Background

The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants traces its lineage back to the International Institutes, a network of social and legal assistance organizations for immigrant women that operated across America the early 20th century. The first of these institutes was established in 1911 by left-of-center Jewish activist Edith Bremer, who was a vocal opponent of “Americanization” programs that encouraged cultural integration. Bremer instead promoted services tailored to the interests of various immigrant groups. By the 1920s, the original New York City branch of the International Institutes had evolved into the Foreign Language Information Service, which also expanded its activities to include publishing and legal activism. In 1934, the organization rebranded once again, becoming the Common Council for American Unity and launching a quarterly publication to promote multiculturalism. ^{8 9}

In 1959, the organization merged with the federation of remaining International Institutes across the country to form the American Council for Nationalities Services, and twenty years later, this new council began collaborating with the United States Committee for Refugees. In 2004, the organization formally adopted its current name and has continued to promote immigration and multiculturalism as the USCRI since then. ⁸

Activities

The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has collaborated closely with the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Department of State, to operate a wide range of migrant support programs especially under the Biden administration. These range from reception and placement, which involves sending newly arrived foreigners into communities across America, to numerous financial, educational, and other benefit provision. ¹⁰

The USCRI also conducts research and policy advocacy to create greater public and government support for migrant resettlement and placement, especially programs benefiting minors and people allegedly displaced by climate change. ¹¹

Political Activism

United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants resisted efforts by the Trump administration to reduce the flow of refugees and other migrants into the United States. In 2018, committee president Eskinder Negash wrote a letter to Congress in which he demanded continued funding and support for resettlement programs and claimed that efforts to implement controls on immigration “challenge … the basic values of our country.” ¹² In 2020, USCRI opposed a Trump administration proposal to allow individual states to opt out of migrant resettlement, and once again demanded more funding of refugee admissions. ¹³

When the Biden administration raised the annual refugee admissions ceiling to 125,000 in 2023, the USCRI issued a statement praising the move and calling for even greater expansion of migrant resettlement. ¹⁴

Impact

The United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants claims to have enabled the resettlement of more than 350,000 migrants into America, and to have helped connect more than 300,000 migrants to taxpayer-funded benefits and other community services. The committee maintains at least 34 resettlement processing facilities in 22 states and 19 legal support offices in 14 states. In addition, the USCRI has at least 31 cash handout and healthcare referral centers in 22 states. ¹⁰

Leadership

Eskinder Negash is the president and chief executive officer of the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. He was the committee’s vice president and chief operating officer until 2009, when the Obama administration appointed him as the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services. There, he managed an annual budget of more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer dollars. During his term, these funds were spent on benefits for more than 400,000 refugees and 150,000 asylum seekers, as well as tens of thousands of other resettlement program beneficiaries from countries such as Haiti, Cuba, and Afghanistan. ² Negash is a former refugee from Africa. ¹²

AnnaMarie Bena is the senior vice president of the USCRI. Like committee president Eskinder Negash, she previously worked for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, where she was the director of policy. She has also worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the General Counsel. In addition, Bena spent two years with the United States Peace Corps in Cameroon. ²

Michael Coburn is the vice president of strategic development at the USCRI. Like committee senior vice president AnnaMarie Bena, he previously worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He has also worked for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of several nominally Christian and Jewish organizations which have received significant taxpayer funding to support the resettlement of migrants into America. ^{2 3}

Diann Dawson is the chair of the USCRI board. She is the president and chief executive officer of the consulting firm DDA & Associates. Dawson previously worked for the Department of Health and Human Services as the director of an office within the Administration for Children and Families, where she oversaw ten regional offices operating dozens of welfare programs. ¹⁵

Financials

In 2019, the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants received just under $70 million in contributions. By 2021, this had grown to more than $277 million. ^{16 17} Taxpayer funding for the USCRI through the Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration has increased exponentially: the Office of Refugee Resettlement “refugee cash and medical assistance” grant has grown from just over $5.2 million to more than $69.6 million, and the “post release services” grant for underage illegal migrants has grown from just $6 million to more than $103 million. ^{4 5}